I had an interesting situation this week. One of my candidates, who had been on a long and successful interview journey, ended up with several offers in his inbox.

He was really stressed. He said he could not understand how this happened. He was not even looking. He really likes his job and his team.

How did this happen?

First of all, he is an interesting and curious person. When I told him about my client and what they needed to do, he thought it made sense to explore the opportunity. He felt that it would allow him to build up his skills in a new area.

The first two interviews went really well. He and a couple of senior managers had wide ranging conversations and he felt really good about it.

Guess what? After that second interview, he was walking around with just a bit more confidence. He had third party validation that he was doing some really good work in a really good way.

It’s not as noticeable as a haircut or new glasses but that kind of confidence shows.

Seemingly out of the blue, he got a couple of networking requests and coffee invitations. Those led to more casual conversations. Casual, because he had moved beyond the “interview panic prep” and into “this is just a business meeting”.

On top of that, his boss started to let him know about a some longer term projects that he be leading.

To be clear: he was not a disgruntled employee complaining about things at work. No one was trying to placate him or keep him in order to get though the busy cycle.

I suggested that he look at multiple offers as a positive thing not a stressful thing. It’s a successful measure of how he is navigating his path through the industry.

After weighing the teams, the work, the manager and the future possibilities, he chose. I think he is going to be very happy.

So, get off the merry-go-round of your job and take a look around. Because looking when you are not looking may the best time to look.